By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
A common phrase coaches have thrown around when talking about fall sports schedules is “up in the air.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has made finalizing schedules almost impossible, but as start dates draw nearer things are clearing up for some East Valley coaches, to an extent.
“The kids have to understand, and we all have to understand, that this isn’t anybody’s fault. This is just where we are right now,” La Feria coach Graciela Campos said. “Like I told the kids (Friday) morning, it’s not going to be about the trophies and the awards, it’s more about your inner discipline and your ability to decide that we’re still going to conquer this season.”
Campos said La Feria is waiting for its cross country schedule to be approved before releasing full details. She said District 32-4A — which also includes Grulla, Hidalgo, Port Isabel, Raymondville and Rio Hondo — is looking at having the district meet either Oct. 26 or Oct. 28. Pending approval, the Lions will play host to the 32-4A meet.
While they don’t know when the athletes will start competition, Campos and the La Feria cross country staff are doing what they can to get the Lions runners prepared for the short season. They’re having weekly Zoom meetings and following a similar running program as they have in the past, with a bit more trust being placed on the athletes.
“We gave them their summer miles in June and in July we went ahead with our program like we normally would, and we’d give the kids their workouts depending on what phase they’re in,” Campos said. “They’re doing their own documentation and then sending it to us. At the end of the day, this has always been about who’s the most self-disciplined. Successful athletes know that — true motivation actually comes from the desire to be their personal best both on and off the playing field, whatever playing field might be theirs.”
District 32-3A will have its meet Oct. 27. Realignment pushed Lyford to District 31-3A, where the Bulldogs will compete against nine Hidalgo County schools in the district meet scheduled for Oct. 21 at the Harlingen Sports Complex.
Lyford, tentatively, has two other competitions on its schedule, including a five-team meet it is set to host Oct. 3. That meet, and the following meet to be hosted by Edinburg Quest on Oct. 10, are more for practice than for glory.
“Races being held at Lyford and Quest will not be scored, nor will awards be given out. We are still working on the logistics on how to best keep our social distancing during races,” Bulldogs coach David Lopez said.
Santa Maria coach Sonia White said District 32-2A is still waiting for decisions to be made regarding the district meet. The district expands as far north as Freer, making it hard to pin down a location. The District 32-1A meet is set for Oct. 28 in Lasara, and San Perlita coach Nataniel Garza said the Trojans have a schedule “very, very lightly penciled in” with hopes of some warmup meets before the district contest.
St. Joseph Academy coach Teddy Lopez also is still working on a schedule, but the Bloodhounds’ district meet is tentatively set for Oct. 26 in Corpus Christi. Since TAPPS numbers are smaller — the 5A Division in which SJA runs has 35 schools — the district meet is not used as a qualifier like in the UIL. SJA will field boys and girls teams with seven runners each for the TAPPS 5A state meet scheduled for Nov. 2 in Waco.
The UIL reduced the number of qualifiers that will advance to regional and state meets. The top two teams in each division will move on from district meets to regional competitions Nov. 9-10, and the top three teams will advance from regional meets to the state meet Nov. 23-24. The top 10 individuals will advance from both qualifying meets as well.
The UIL also implemented a limit of eight teams with a maximum of 10 boys and 10 girls for individual meets. Lopez said TAPPS has not released any similar guidelines yet, but he believes it’s possible they could prior to competition starting Sept. 10 or for the state meets. Lopez is looking at many options to get his team competing throughout October to prepare for the major events, including potentially hosting races at SJA.
“We might end up trying to host a couple of small school meets ourselves,” Lopez said. “We’re developing a course around our school to maybe invite two or three teams to come and run with us. We’re just keeping it open and seeing what we can develop in the next couple of weeks.
“We’ve got three girls that are seniors that have been with us since they were freshmen, and I’m looking forward to hopefully getting this year going because they deserve to see what they can do at district and at state this year,” he continued. “I think (the season will) feel different but, I mean, life has been different, so they’ll be accustomed to the changes because everything has changed.”